1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toothbrushes, and more particularly, to toothbrushes which exhibit a three-dimensional bristle profile to provide improved cleaning of interproximal and gingival margin regions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Toothbrushing and flossing are fundamental steps in achieving good oral hygiene. Flossing, unfortunately, has not met with widespread acceptance amongst the general populace. Furthermore, even people who floss, oftentimes, do not perform adequate flossing in hard-to-reach areas of the mouth. Accordingly, the importance of providing a brush which achieves improved cleaning along hard-to-reach areas like the gingival margin and interproximal regions is heightened. Unfortunately, while most commercially available toothbrushes clean the outer buccal face of teeth adequately, they fail to provide improved cleaning of plaque and debris from the gingival margin, interproximal areas and other hard to reach areas of the mouth.
Applicants have discovered that a substantial improvement in toothbrush performance may be realized by optimizing toothbrush design for both interproximal and gingival margin cleaning. In particular, the present invention comprises a toothbrush having a head with a grooved "heel" portion which is particularly suited to cleaning the gingival margin and a "toe" portion which is particularly suited to interproximal cleaning. Furthermore, Applicants have observed that an angled "toe" portion exhibits improved cleaning in areas of the mouth which are difficult to reach with standard toothbrushes. These features in combination with several other important operating characteristics will render a toothbrush particularly adept at accomplishing the aforementioned objectives.
Toothbrushes having a groove centered longitudinally along the entire bristle pattern are generally known to those skilled in the art. Oral-B Laboratories, Redwood City, Calif., markets the "ORTHO" brush which is intended to more effectively clean debris from orthodontic brackets and wires. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,020 to Hills, describes a toothbrush which includes a generally planar head portion having a plurality of bristles forming a concave surface. However, Applicants believe that these prior art toothbrushes do not exhibit all of the operating characteristics identified hereinafter as important in simultaneously improved interproximal and gingival margin cleaning.
Furthermore, toothbrushes having a distinct "toe" surface along the side profile of the brush head are also generally known to those skilled in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,608 to Key describes a toothbrush wherein the head is bent at a fixed obtuse angle. The Key brush is said to provide superior cleaning of the lingual, buccal, embrasure, and distal aspects of the teeth and gums. Also U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,267 to Cheng; U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,212 to Conke; U.S. Pat. No. 1,337,173 to White; U.S. Pat. No. 1,440,785 to Levis; U.S. Pat. No. 1,927,365 to Frolio; and Des. Pat. No. 49,472 to Dierke relate generally to toothbrushes with concave side-view heads. However, it is believed that these known prior art toothbrushes also do not exhibit all of the operating characteristics identified hereinafter as important in simultaneously improved interproximal and gingival margin cleaning.
These and other objectives will become evident from the following.